


Sacrifice

by ICarryYourHeart



Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: 2 +1 things, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 21:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14529840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICarryYourHeart/pseuds/ICarryYourHeart
Summary: Two times Jaz and Adam almost say I love you, and one time they do.When he thinks of all that he walked into the Army willing to sacrifice, he realizes it was never this.





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to UnderCoverWaterMoon for the beta! This fic is inspired by a post shared by Logictron that gave me so many feels I immediately had to sit down and write this drabble. As always, thank you to the rest of the Fab5: Chibisere and Kyrie Anne for your continued awesomeness.
> 
> This is ANGSTY, but no one dies, I promise :)

 

When he thinks of all that he walked into the Army willing to sacrifice, he realizes it was never this.

 

It happens in an instant. He sees a muzzle flash, and then Jaz drops to the ground without a sound. Seconds tick by as his mind turns in place, unable to process what just happened, and then he’s sprinting towards her. A bullet misses him by centimeters, and he scrambles and slips in the dirt as he dives behind cover. His voice is tinny in his own ears as he rattles off the sniper’s location to his team, and he fires off cover shots to keep the bullets from landing near her.

 

It feels like hours go by before Preach confirms the kill. 

 

Adam crawls to her on hands and knees because he doesn’t have the strength to stand. Someone is shouting. McG is asking for status on Jaz. Adam says something, he isn’t sure what, but the comms fall silent. 

 

Blood pools around her, and the greedy earth soaks it in. She lays broken on the ground, and he cannot imagine any life still pumps through her. There is an anguished sort of hope that pulls choked noises from his throat. 

 

By the time he reaches her, his hands tremble so hard it’s impossible to feel for a pulse. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hears himself screaming for McG. He doesn’t recognize his own voice. It has never come out sounding so desperate. 

 

A shocking shade of crimson wells up between his fingers as he presses his hands to her chest. He’s working on autopilot now. Jaz doesn’t move or cry out in pain. She is as still as death. 

 

He’s pleading with her to come back to him, but his words have no effect.  

 

McG kicks up dust as he falls to his knees beside her, and Adam coughs. He strains to hear what McG is saying, but someone is screaming inside his head. 

 

McG’s face is too desperate. It’s the first sign of how far gone she is.

 

Adam’s fingers are clutched in the fabric of Jaz’s sleeve. Her chest is no longer rising. There’s a tingling that crawls up the back of his skull and washes over his face. He’s floundering as Preach and McG lift Jaz, and struggles to his feet as Amir’s hands hook under his armpits. 

 

The expressions on his team’s faces tell him that Jaz’s fate is grim at best.  

 

Someone, Preach probably, has coordinated emergency evac. Wind from the helicopter whips their clothing against them. They lift her into the aircraft and strap her to a board while McG preps for a blood transfusion. Adam knows he only risks it because she’s running out of time. 

 

Amir is her only match, and rolls up his sleeves without a second thought. 

 

Adam is on his knees beside Jaz, hands cupping her face. He can  _ feel  _ her slipping from him. Numbness begins to creep in, and the next thing he knows Preach is buckling him into a seat while McG secures the stretcher to the floor.

 

Adam doesn’t remember much after that. His eyes become glassy, and he leans heavily against the seat by her side. His grip on her hand doesn’t falter. They have to pry it loose when they land on the roof of the on base hospital. 

 

It takes twelve agonizing hours for Jaz’s eyes to flutter open. He hasn’t left her side once. Exhaustion sits deep in his bones, and her name is rough as he speaks it. Her fingers squeeze on his forearm, surprisingly strong. 

 

The room is dim, and the only sound is the steady beeping of the heart monitor. She’d lost a dangerous amount of blood, but the bullet wound will leave no lasting damage beyond an ugly scar. 

 

Adam thinks of the words he wants to say, but he cannot speak them now. Not when he knows that duty isn’t something either of them are willing to give up yet. He presses his forehead to her shoulder instead. The faint scent of dirt and gunpowder lingers beneath the smell of hospital antiseptic. When he looks back up again her eyes are on his. The silence speaks for both of them. 

 

* * *

 

  
  


An explosion takes him down. The scream rips from her throat before his body hits the ground. Jaz can’t run to him, not with ten men raining down on her team. Even as fear tears at her mind and burns her throat, she keeps her position. 

 

To lose it now means she loses more than him this day.

The raging noise of the battlefield - the shouts and gunfire- all fade to the sound of her own breathing. It comes too fast and desperate, and it throws off her aim. Although everything inside of her rebels against it, Jaz puts the fear and rage aside. 

 

These won’t save him, but her aim will.  

 

The men encroaching on them become nothing more than blurs that she eliminates one by one. If Adam wasn’t laying unmoving on the ground a cocky smile would be on her face. Instead, her gaze is fierce as she clears a path for McG to get to him. She won’t focus on the panicked voices coming through the comms until the threat is eliminated. 

 

A feral noise comes out of her as she fights her way to Adam. When a bullet grazes her arm inches from where an ugly scar mars her skin, she doesn’t even flinch. She is beyond pain now. 

 

Finally, finally, the sound of gunfire stops, and Jaz stumbles to Adam on trembling legs. 

 

The sight of him stalls the breath in her lungs. Something inside of her  _ knows  _ his heart no longer beats. McG is pulling the AED machine out of his bag and cutting through Adam’s clothing, while Preach performs CPR as they wait for the machine to activate.

 

Jaz chokes back a sob as her eyes travel over the shrapnel embedded in Adam’s skin. 

 

She crouches beside him as panic surges, and her eyes are glued to his face as she whispers his name. 

 

McG’s hands are trembling now as he places the pads, and Preach is hunched over, his face torn with grief. Amir’s arm comes around her, and she sees his lips move in a quiet prayer. 

 

The mechanical voice orders them to stand clear, and Adam’s body jerks with the first shock delivered. Nothing happens. 

 

As her whole world tilts, Jaz takes comfort in the words whispered in Arabic.

 

The machine has to recharge, and McG resumes CPR. A second charge is delivered. Adam jerks and falls still again. For five seconds there is nothing, and Preach stands ready to take over CPR, but McG feels a pulse. 

 

There is a collective sigh of relief as the AED begins reading a heartbeat. 

 

Jaz makes a small sound in her throat as she sees McG attach a hand held resuscitation bag to Adam’s face, and begin the rhythmic squeezing. Amir’s hand grips her shoulder as they wait for evac. 

 

There isn’t room for anyone but Adam in the med truck, and she falls apart as soon as he leaves her sight. 

 

The grief is dry and grating, and the tears cannot form. She wants to curl into herself and will the pain away. 

 

Preach is still bent over, and his shoulders are shaking with sobs. 

 

Jaz has never felt this powerless. 

 

They don’t see him for two days. In that time, Adam is transferred to a facility better equipped to deal with the blast injuries. It takes them nearly eighteen hours to reach the place by car. Food turns to sawdust in her mouth, but she manages to get a few bites in. His status has not changed. 

 

In the sterile hospital room Jaz stands frozen in the doorway. Out here she can still live in the delusion that none of this is real, but she’s never been one to run from her fears. Her footsteps echo as she steps through the doorway, and her vision stretches the distance to his bed. She sways slightly, but a hand clutches at her elbow and guides her to a chair. Preach forces an energy bar on her, and although he is firm, his eyes are gentle on hers. 

 

Jaz curls her fingers around Adam’s wrist, and her fear begins to settle as she feels the steady pulse. For the first time in days she sleeps for longer than twenty minute spurts.  

 

Adam wakes in the middle of the night, and Jaz only notices because in his confusion, he’d tried to yank his heart monitor off. Alarms clang and nurses rush in, and all she can do is stare at him while her eyes fill. 

 

She doesn’t tell him the words she keeps locked in her heart. 

 

* * *

 

He took a bullet for her, or she took one for him. They can’t remember at this point. All that exists in this moment are the eyes that meet across a gritty floor. In them are the words neither was brave enough to speak. Thoughts become hazy as the darkness of the setting sun overwhelms them. Evidence of the violent life they chose is scattered around them. There is the smell of blood and gunpowder, and gusting winds ensure that even in death they cannot escape the harsh biting sand. 

 

Jaz looks into Adam’s eyes and he doesn’t have to say  _ I love you _ because she already knows. She understands him better than she understands herself sometimes. His actions stopped being a mystery to her a long time ago. If she had the strength she would reach for him, for she wants to know she died holding the one she loved. 

 

His eyes on hers will have to be enough. 

 

They are calm and gentle, and despite it all he is smiling. Maybe they never got to do all the things they wanted, but as life drains out of her she doesn’t feel like she missed out. Jaz understands she is loved, deeper than she ever dared to wish for. The knowledge of that washes away the fear of death. 

 

Adam looks at Jaz and he doesn’t feel the regret he thought he would. He’s used up nearly all his strength crawling across the floor to her. The last of it he uses to reach for her, but he falls short. 

 

His fingers trace the air inches from her own.

 

She’s fading fast now. He knows he will die beside her tonight, just as he knows he will watch her go before him. The knowledge does not destroy him as he thought it would. Their eyes never leave each other, and he catalogues every moment as the cold consumes him. 

 

They are not conscious when the team finally finds them. They miss the way McG finally breaks on the battlefield, and how Preach talks him down. Amir pleads for one last miracle, and when backup arrives he casts up a prayer in thanks. 

 

* * *

 

 

The world is a softer place when she wakes. Jaz has never given much thought to second chances, but she knows that this time she won’t hold back. It takes every ounce of bravery she has to ask for Adam, not knowing if her request will be met with the news that he no longer shares this world with her. 

 

Jaz gets her answer instantly when Amir smiles at her. McG’s arms come around her and then she’s being lifted from the bed. They don’t bother with a wheelchair. Amir trails behind, pushing the I.V pole. 

 

Preach is sitting with Adam when they enter the room. He shifts so that McG can lower Jaz onto the bed next to Adam. The team steps out to give them some privacy.  

 

Adam is awake, and he pulls her gently against his chest, careful to avoid putting pressure on the wound at her hip. His leg is bandaged high up on the thigh, and she remains still so she doesn’t jostle him. This time, when the words build in her, she doesn’t hesitate. 

 

“I love you.” 

 

They say it at the same time, and then chuckle. 

 

Second chances aren’t always the path to a perfect ending, but they are a chance to end things right. 

 

Adam is honorably discharged. His leg took too much damage, and he will never be combat ready again. There’s a job waiting for him at the DIA once he’s healed from his injuries. Patricia saw to that. 

 

Jaz has a choice. She can return to Turkey with her team, or leave a twenty year career behind to stay with Adam. She decides to be brave and choose a life she’s yet to experience. 

 

Their lives look different now, as if someone has adjusted the hue on the screen. The most dangerous mission they face is navigating DC traffic, and the only time Jaz uses her legendary aim is to humiliate McG in a game of cornhole. 

 

The pieces have changed, but the whole of it is the same. There is life beyond the job, and Adam and Jaz embrace it with the fullness of those who never got the chance to. 

 

They sit underneath the stars at night, and Adam’s hand rests on her swollen belly. Their son stirs, and Jaz gives a proud chuckle. 

 

Their second chance doesn’t look like either of them expected. It’s better. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated :) And for everyone who also reads Beauty in the Broken, updates are in progress!


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